Greater Bay Area rides wave of sci-tech collaboration

The first phase of the Chinese Medicine Guangdong Laboratory was inaugurated at the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, Guangdong province, on Nov 9. At the same time, as a national strategic research force based in the Greater Bay Area, the laboratory has a commitment to develop together with Hong Kong," Gao said. In recent years, Guangdong has continuously deepened its scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao, promoting trilateral collaboration mechanisms, platforms, projects, talent and other aspects to accelerate the transformation of the Greater Bay Area into an internationally influential hub for sci-tech innovation. Leveraging major platforms such as Hengqin, Qianhai, Nansha and Hetao, the three regions of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have made practical progress and achieved results in "people exchanges, capital flow, tax balance and logistics connectivity" in recent years, Gong Guoping, a senior official of the Guangdong Department of Science and Technology, said at a news conference for the Greater Bay Area Science Forum 2024 in early November. Guangdong's key research and development programs and the projects initiated by the Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, among others, are open to Hong Kong and Macao, supporting research institutions from the two special administrative regions in leading or taking part in Guangdong provincial government-funded research projects.